Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32October 2016 15 I t’s a marriage of two quintessential Vietnam images: rice fields and bicycles. We are pedalling through the former on the latter, riding atop the mud levees that partition the flooded fields into terraces. Around us, the rice harvest is in full swing as women stand up to their knees in water, scything the rice. Shy smiles greet us, and bicycles creak along the paths, overloaded with rice stalks. Our bikes are just some of many in the scene — we are locals of a sort for the next couple of days. We’re in Mai Chau, the northern Vietnamese town pressed deep into the limestone hills that characterise so much of this part of the country — think Halong Bay without the ocean. For two days the rice fields will be our bike tracks as we ride along the levees and faint footpaths that meander through the fields. It’s hilly country — but the riding is not. The limestone peaks rise out of ruler‑flat valleys where the only slopes are the terracing of the fields. The peaks are shaggy with rainforest but on the valley floor it’s a forest of food. Along the edges of the rice terraces and the paths, cassava, corn, tarot, bananas, papaya and bitter melon sprout in this land where no earth goes to waste. It makes for gentle cycling as we pedal out each morning from our homestay accommodation near Mai Chau, a snaking town of blue walls and red roofs sat in a sea of rice fields about three hours’ drive inland from Hanoi. Andrew Bain pedals for pleasure in Vietnam. The conical hats of the rice harvesters dot the terraces in a scene that feels like Asia personified Photo: Andrew Bain Vietnam